Blogs from South Province, New Caledonia, Oceania

Noumea, the capital city of New Caledonia was our first stop. It is located on Grand Terre, the main island, known for beaches and its blend of French and native Kanak influences. Not the most interesting city but I was intrigued as all New Caledonians speak French (it is a French Territory). Citizens get to vote for the President of France! The French used New Caledonia as the location to send prisoners (in particular political prisoners) after they annexed the islands in 1853. Napolean III made it a penal colony and sent around 5,000 Communard deportees to these islands. The islands were first discovered by James Cook in 1774 and named New Caledonia because the mountainous scenery reminded him of his native Scotland. We booked a hop on, hop off bus for the day and circled ... read more

Day 1 - Departure from Sydney Harbour We travelled via the bus to Sydney and then a taxi to the Overseas Terminal. Checked in to the boat which was easy and smooth. We had managed to get a suite for this cruise. Our bags took a while to arrive so we went to have lunch at the Windjammer buffet and treated ourselves to a glass of bubbles. That evening we had our first sampling of the Concierge Club which we could access due to our suite booking. It is open 4.30 - 8 for free drinks and hot/cold nibbles. We had dinner in the Cascade restaurant and then returned to the club lounge. Day 2 - At Sea A light breakfast as we had been invited to brunch today. We sat at a table at the ... read more

Something I remember from my childhood and the many family sailing holidays we had is that things often go wrong and when they do the best thing to do is laugh about it and then fix it. We seemed to do a lot of laughing at certain times in the past few days … When everything was going well, we just kept on seeing amazing sea life up close and personal as well as idyllic sand fringed palm tree studded islets at every turn. Sometimes the weather could have been better, but we were warm enough to go swimming with the tropical fish and enjoy being outdoors. Ile des Pins is a large island compared to the others. It must be about 20 km across, so we wanted to hire a car to see it for ... read more

My first thought 31 years ago was that it was a cultural desert. And today in 2018, this is my same opinion. I grew up on the island. I went to school, I had family there, I was a child and had a great life in the late 1970s. When I went back in 1988, I was a different person and saw the island with different eyes. In 2018 I have gone to reconnect with family. Reconnect I have, but it is still a cultural desert. The bookshops have gone and there is no "cultural" life. and people don't seem to care. I currently live in a small community which has abundant groups of citizens who care about heritage; who care about recycling; where theatre, live music and dance are encouraged. At first glance Noumea is ... read more

Dernier jour en brousse juste le temps de déguster le Bami Niaouli de Maryvonne, FIN VALAB ! Plat Indonésien Bami Niaouli · Préparation : 30 min · Cuisson : 35 min · 30 min 35 min 1 heure 5 min · Proportion pour : 8 personnes Liste des ingrédients 1 paquet de vermicelles de soja 4 blancs de poulet ou haut de cuisse 4 carottes 1 chou blanc 250 g haricots verts 4 oignons 4 gousses d’ail 20 cl de sauce soja claire 10 cl de sauce de soja foncée 10 cl d’huile neutre sel, poivre 200 g de crevettes coupées en morceaux 100 g de crevettes sèches On peut remplacer les crevettes par des dés de jambon. Préparation... read more